The United States competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 400 competitors, 316 men and 84 women, took part in 185 events in 21 sports.
The United States finished in second position in the final medal rankings, with 33 gold and 94 total medals.
Doreen Wilber — Archery, Women's Individual Competition
John Williams — Archery, Men's Individual Competition
Vincent Matthews — Athletics, Men's 400 metres
Dave Wottle — Athletics, Men's 800 metres
Frank Shorter — Athletics, Men's Marathon
Rod Milburn — Athletics, Men's 110 m Hurdles
Larry Black, Eddie Hart, Robert Taylor, and Gerald Tinker — Athletics, Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Randy Williams — Athletics, Men's Long Jump
Ray Seales — Boxing, Men's Light Welterweight
Maxine Joyce King — Diving, Women's 3 m Springboard
John Writer — Shooting, Men's Small-bore Rifle, Three Positions
Lones Wigger — Shooting, Men's Free Rifle, Three Positions
Mark Spitz — Swimming, Men's 100 m Freestyle
Mark Spitz — Swimming, Men's 200 m Freestyle
Mark Spitz — Swimming, Men's 100 m Butterfly
Mark Spitz — Swimming, Men's 200 m Butterfly
Mike Burton — Swimming, Men's 1500 m Freestyle
John Hencken — Swimming, Men's 200 m Breaststroke
David Edgar, Jerry Heidenreich, John Murphy, and Mark Spitz — Swimming, Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
Steve Genter, John Kinsella, Fred Tyler, and Mark Spitz — Swimming, Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
Tom Bruce, Jerry Heidenreich, Mike Stamm, and Mark Spitz — Swimming, Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Sandy Neilson — Swimming, Women's 100 m Freestyle
Keena Rothhammer — Swimming, Women's 800 m Freestyle
Melissa Belote — Swimming, Women's 100 m Backstroke
Melissa Belote — Swimming, Women's 200 m Backstroke
Cathy Carr — Swimming, Women's 100 m Breaststroke
Karen Moe — Swimming, Women's 200 m Butterfly
Shirley Babashoff, Jane Barkman, Jenny Kemp, and Sandy Neilson — Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
Melissa Belote, Cathy Carr, Deena Deardurff, and Sandy Neilson — Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Dan Gable — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Lightweight
Wayne Wells — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Welterweight
Ben Peterson — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Light Heavyweight
William Allen, William Bentsen, and Harry Melges — Sailing, Men's Soling Team Competition
Robert Taylor — Athletics, Men's 100 metres
Wayne Collett — Athletics, Men's 400 meters
Ralph Mann — Athletics, Men's 400 m Hurdles
Bob Seagren — Athletics, Men's Pole Vault
George Woods — Athletics, Men's Shot Put
Jay Silvester — Athletics, Men's Discus Throw
Mable Fergerson, Kathy Hammond, Madeline Manning-Jackson, and Cheryl Toussaint — Athletics, Women's 4 × 400 m Relay
Michael Bantom, James Brewer, Tommy Burleson, Doug Collins, Kenneth Davis, James Forbes, Thomas Henderson, Dwight Jones, Robert Jones, Kevin Joyce, Tom McMillen, and Edward Ratleff — Basketball, Men's Team Competition
Richard Rydze — Diving, Men's 10 m Platform
Bruce Davidson, Kevin Freeman, Michael Plumb, and James Wofford — Equestrian, Three-Day Event Team Competition
Frank Chapot, Kathryn Kusner, Neal Shapiro, and William Steinkraus — Equestrian, Jumping Team Competition
Gene Clapp, Fritz Hobbs, Bill Hobbs, Paul Hoffman, John Livingston, Michael Livingston, Tim Mickelson, Pete Raymond and Lawrence Terry — Rowing, Men's Eights
Victor Auer — Shooting, Men's Small-bore Rifle, prone
Lanny Bassham — Shooting, Men's Small-bore Rifle, Three Positions
Jerry Heidenreich — Swimming, Men's 100 m Freestyle
Steve Genter — Swimming, Men's 200 m Freestyle
Steve Genter — Swimming, Men's 400 m Freestyle
Mike Stamm — Swimming, Men's 100 m Backstroke
Mike Stamm — Swimming, Men's 200 m Backstroke
Tom Bruce — Swimming, Men's 100 m Breaststroke
Gary Hall, Sr. — Swimming, Men's 200 m Butterfly
Tim McKee — Swimming, Men's 200 m Individual Medley
Tim McKee — Swimming, Men's 400 m Individual Medley
Shirley Babashoff — Swimming, Women's 100 m Freestyle
Shirley Babashoff — Swimming, Women's 200 m Freestyle
Susie Atwood — Swimming, Women's 200 m Backstroke
Dana Schoenfield — Swimming, Women's 200 m Breaststroke
Lynn Colella — Swimming, Women's 200 m Butterfly
Richard Sanders — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Bantamweight
John Peterson — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Middleweight
Craig Lincoln — Diving, Men's 3 m Springboard
Thomas Hill — Athletics, Men's 110 m Hurdles
Larry Young — Athletics, Men's 50 km Walk
Dwight Stones — Athletics, Men's High Jump
Jan Johnson — Athletics, Men's Pole Vault
Arnie Robinson — Athletics, Men's Long Jump
Bill Schmidt — Athletics, Men's Javelin Throw
Kathy Hammond — Athletics, Women's 400 metres
Kathy Schmidt — Athletics, Women's Javelin Throw
Ricardo Carreras — Boxing, Men's Bantamweight
Jesse Valdez — Boxing, Men's Welterweight
Marvin Johnson — Boxing, Men's Middleweight
James McEwan — Canoeing, Men's C1 Canadian Slalom Singles
Neal Shapiro — Equestrian, Jumping Individual Competition
Tom McBreen — Swimming, Men's 400 m Freestyle
Doug Northway — Swimming, Men's 1500 m Freestyle
John Murphy — Swimming, Men's 100 m Backstroke
Mitch Ivey — Swimming, Men's 200 m Backstroke
John Hencken — Swimming, Men's 100 m Breaststroke
Jerry Heidenreich — Swimming, Men's 100 m Butterfly
Robin Backhaus — Swimming, Men's 200 m Butterfly
Steve Furniss — Swimming, Men's 200 m Individual Medley
Keena Rothhammer — Swimming, Women's 200 m Freestyle
Susie Atwood — Swimming, Women's 100 m Backstroke
Ellie Daniel — Swimming, Women's 200 m Butterfly
Lynn Vidali — Swimming, Women's 200 m Individual Medley
Peter Asch, Steven Barnett, Bruce Bradley, Stanley Cole, James Ferguson, Eric Lindroth, John Parker, Gary Sheerer, James Slatton, Russell Webb, and Barry Weitzenberg — Water Polo, Men's Team Competition
Chris Taylor — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Super Heavyweight
Donald Cohan, Charles Horter, and John Marshall — Sailing, Men's Dragon Team Competition
Peter Dean and Glen Foster — Sailing, Men's Tempest Team Competition
In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, the United States entered three men and three women. They took home both of the gold medals as well as a pair of 5th-place finishes.
Men's Individual Competition:
John Williams — 2528 points (→ Gold Medal)
Edwin Eliason — 2438 points (→ 5th place)
Dennis McComak — 2398 points (→ 11th place)
Women's Individual Competition:
Doreen Wilber — 2424 points (→ Gold Medal)
Linda Myers — 2385 points (→ 5th place)
Maureen Bechdolt — 2218 points (→ 28th place)
Men's 100 metres
Robert Taylor
Rey Robinson
Eddie Hart
Men's 200 metres
Larry Black
Larry Burton
Chuck Smith
Men's 400 metres
Vincent Matthews
Wayne Collett
John Smith
Men's 800 metres
Dave Wottle
Heat — 1:47.6
Semifinals — 1:48.7
Final — 1:45.9 (→ Gold Medal)
Ken Swenson
Heat — 1:51.1
Semifinals — DNF (→ did not advance)
Richard Wohlhuter
Heat — 1:49.4 (→ did not advance)
Men's 1,500 metres
James Ryun
Heat — 3:51.5 (→ did not advance)
Dave Wottle
Heat — 3:40.7
Semifinals — 3:41.6 (→ did not advance)
Robert Wheeler
Heat — 3:41.3
Semifinals — 3:40.4 (→ did not advance)
Men's 5,000 metres
George Young
Heat — 13:41.2 (→ did not advance)
Steve Prefontaine
Heat — 13:32.6
Finals — 13:28.25(→4th)
Leonard Hilton
Heat — 14:07.2 (→ did not advance)
Men's 10,000 metres
Frank Shorter
Jeff Galloway
Jon Anderson
Heat — 28:34.2 (→ did not advance)
Men's 3,000 metres Steeplechase
Steve Savage
Doug Brown
Mike Manley
Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Larry Black, Robert Taylor, Gerald Tinker, and Eddie Hart
Heat — 38.96
Semifinals — 38.54
Final — 38.19 (→ Gold Medal)
Men's High Jump
Dwight Stones
Qualifying Round — 2.15 m
Final — 2.21 m (→ Bronze Medal)
Christopher Dunn
Qualification Round — 2.12 m (→ did not advance)
Ronnie Jourdan
Qualification Round — 2.12 m (→ did not advance)
Men's Pole Vault
Bob Seagren
Jan Johnson
Steve Smith
Women's Javelin Throw
Sherry Calvert
Qualification Round — 51.38 m (→ did not advance, 15th place)
Men's Light Flyweight (– 48 kg)
Davey Armstrong
First Round — Defeated Arif Dorgu (TUR), 4:1
Second Round — Lost to Enrique Rodríguez (ESP), 0:5
Men's Light Middleweight (– 71 kg)
Reggie Jones
First Round — Bye
Second Round — Lost to Valeri Tregubov (URS), 2:3
Men's Heavyweight (+ 81 kg)
Duane Bobick
First Round — Defeated Yuri Nesterov (URS), 5:0
Quarterfinals — Lost to Teófilo Stevenson (CUB), TKO-3
Fifteen cyclists represented the United States in 1972.
Individual road race
John Howard — 61st place
John Allis — 63rd place
Emile Waldteufel — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Robert Schneider — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Team time trial
Richard Ball
John Howard
Ron Skarin
Wayne Stetina
Sprint
Jeffrey Spencer
Roger Young
1000m time trial
Steven Woznick
Final — 1:08.56 (→ 12th place)
Tandem
Jeffrey Spencer and Ralph Therrio → 13th place
Individual pursuit
John Vande Velde
Team pursuit
David Chauner
John Vande Velde
David Mulica
Jim Ochowicz
Men's 3 m Springboard
Craig Howard Lincoln - 577.29 points (→ Bronze Medal
Michael Finneran - 557.34 points (→ 5th place)
David Bush - 327.06 points (→ 20th place)
Men's 10 m Platform
Richard Rydze - 480.75 points (→ Silver Medal)
Richard Earley - 462.45 points (→ 6th place)
Michael Finneran - 439.47 points (→ 9th place)
Women's 3 m Springboard
Maxine Joyce King - 450.03 points (→ Gold Medal)
Janet Ely - 420.99 points (→ 4th place)
Cynthia Potter - 413.58 (→ 7th place)
Women's 10 m Platform
Janet Ely - 352.68 points (→ 4th place)
Maxine Joyce King - 346.38 points (→ 5th place)
Cynthia Potter - 173.82 points (→ 21st place)
19 fencers, 14 men and 5 women, represented the United States in 1972.
Men's foil
Joseph Freeman
Carl Borack
John Nonna
Men's team foil
Carl Borack, Martin Jay Davis, Joseph Freeman, John Nonna, Tyrone Simmons
Men's épée
George Masin
Stephen Netburn
James Melcher
Men's team épée
Edward Bozek, Paul Makler, Jr., George Masin, James Melcher, Stephen Netburn
Men's sabre
Paul Apostol
Alfonso Morales
Alex Orban
Men's team sabre
Paul Apostol, Robert Dow, Alfonso Morales, Alex Orban
Women's foil
Ruth White
Harriet King
Ann O'Donnell
Women's team foil
Ruth White, Natalia Clovis, Tatyana Adamovich, Harriet King, Ann O'Donnell
First Round (Group A)
Morocco 0-0 United States
Malaysia 3-0 United States
West Germany 7-0 United States → did not advance, 14th place over-all
Team Roster
Mike Ivanow (GK)
Casey Bahr
John Bocwinski
Horst Stemke
Neil Stam
Archie Roboostoff
Mike Seerey
John Carenza
Buzz Demling
Manuel Hernandez
Hugo Salcedo
Al Trost
Joe Hamm
Steve Gay
Shep Messing (GK)
Wally Ziaja
Mike Flater
Mike Margulis
Jim Zylker
Coach: Bob Guelker
Handball
The United States, which had lost all three of its games in the first Olympic handball tournament, fared no better in the first round of the second tournament. The Americans lost to Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Japan to finish last place in the division, sending them to the thirteenth- to sixteenth-place consolation round. There, they finally got their first handball win over Spain before being defeated by Denmark.
Men's Team Competition:
United States - 14th place (1-4-0)
Roster - Richard Abrahamson, Fletcher Abram Jr., Roger Baker, Dennis Berkholtz, Larry Caton, Vincent DiCalogero, Elmer Edes, Thomas Hardiman, Rudolph Matthews, Sandor Rivnyak, James Rogers, Richard Schlesinger, Kevin Serrapede, Robert Sparks, Joel Voelkert, and Harry WinklerThomas Jandris)]
Men's Lightweight
Kenneth Okada
Men's Half-Middleweight
Patrick Burris
Men's Middleweight
Irwin Cohen
Men's Half-Heavyweight
James Wooley
Men's Heavyweight
Douglas Nelson
Men's Open Class
Johnny Watts
Three male pentathletes represented the United States in 1972.
Men's Individual Competition:
Charles Richards — 5074 points (→ 9th place)
John Fitzgerald — 5070 points (→ 11th place)
Scott Taylor — 4656 points (→ 29th place)
Men's Team Competition:
Richards, Fitzgerald, and Taylor — 14802 points (→ 4th place)
Men's Single Sculls
James Deitz
Heat — 7:57.58
Repechage — 7:59.13
Semi Finals — 8:21.54
Final — 7:24.81 (→ 5th place)
Men's Coxed Pairs
Luther Jones, Michael Staines and Aaron Herman
Heat — 7:50.00
Semi Finals — 8:25.40
B-Final — 8:04.80 (→ 11th place)
Fourteen male shooters represented the United States in 1972. Lones Wigger and John Writer won golds and Lanny Bassham and Vic Auer won silver medals.
25 m pistol
Jim McNally
Bill McMillan
50 m pistol
Jimmie Dorsey
Hershel Anderson
300 m rifle, three positions
Lones Wigger
Lanny Bassham
50 m rifle, three positions
John Writer
Lanny Bassham
50 m rifle, prone
Vic Auer
Lones Wigger
50 m running target
Edmund Moeller
Charles Davis
Trap
James Poindexter
Donald Haldeman
Skeet
Jack Johnson
Tony Rosetti
Men's 100m Freestyle
Mark Spitz
Heat — 52.46s
Semifinals — 52.43s
Final — 51.22s (→ Gold Medal)
Jerry Heidenreich
Heat — 52.38s
Semifinals — 52.31s
Final — 51.65s (→ Silver Medal)
John Murphy
Heat — 53.07s
Semifinals — 53.17s
Final — 52.08s (→ 4th place)
Men's 200m Freestyle
Mark Spitz
Heat — 1:55.29
Final — 1:52.78 (→ Gold Medal)
Steve Genter
Heat — 1:55.42
Final — 1:53.73 (→ Silver Medal)
Fred Tyler
Heat — 1:56.04
Final — 1:54.96 (→ 5th place)
Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
Dave Fairbank, Gary Conelly, Jerry Heidenreich, and David Edgar
Heat — 3:28.84
David Edgar, John Murphy, Jerry Heidenreich, and Mark Spitz
Final — 3:26.42 (→ Gold Medal)
Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
Gary Conelly, Tom McBreen, Michael Burton, and John Kinsella
Heat — 8:03.98
John Kinsella, Fred Tyler, Steve Genter, and Mark Spitz
Final — 7:35.78 (→ Gold Medal)
Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Tom Bruce, Jerry Heidenreich, Mike Stamm, and Mark Spitz
Final (→ Gold Medal)
Men's Team Competition
Preliminary Round (Group A)
Defeated Romania (4-3)
Defeated Cuba (7-6)
Defeated Canada (8-1)
Defeated Mexico (7-5)
Defeated Yugoslavia (5-3)
Final Round (Group I)
Drew with West Germany (4-4)
Lost to Hungary (3-5)
Drew with Soviet Union (6-6)
Defeated Italy (6-5) → Bronze Medal
Team Roster
Peter Asch
Steven Barnett
Bruce Bradley
Stanley Cole
James Ferguson
Eric Lindroth
John Parker
Gary Sheerer
James Slatton
Russell Webb
Barry Weitzenberg
Men's slalom:
Wayne Grimditch - 38.5 points, silver medal
Ricky McCormick - 27.5 points, 9th place
Men's Figure skiing:
Ricky McCormick - 5340 points, gold medal
Wayne Grimditch - 4510 points, silver medal
Men's Jump:
Ricky McCormick - 43.75 points, gold medal
Wayne Grimditch - 30.15 points, 14th place
Women's Slalom:
Liz Allen-Shetter - 35.0 points, gold medal
Women's Figure skiing:
Liz Allen-Shetter - 1550 points, 5th place
Women's Jump:
Liz Allen-Shetter - 25.70 points, bronze medal
